The rear of a large cargo ship that was stuck across the Suez Canal for about a week has been released off the shoreline now, officials said.
400m long (1,300ft) Ever Given has been corrected by 80%, according to the Suez Canal Authority.
He also said that other efforts to move the boat would resume on Monday.
But the head of the company that was involved in the rescue efforts urged warnings that finishing the job would not be a “piece of cake”.
Impact On International Trade
Ever Given was blocking one of the busiest trade routes in the world, forcing companies to rebuild ships and cover long distances for hundreds of ships.
Reports of the partial release of the ship raised hopes that vehicles on the water could resume within hours, paving the way for an estimated $ 9.6bn (£ 7bn) of daily goods.
Rescue workers from the authority and the Dutch company Smit Salvage used tug boats to wrench the rear of the ship from the canal bank.
Close to the shore, hijackers have been digging in the sand and mud under the bow of the ship.
The rear, which was 4m away from the shoreline, was now 102m wide, the Suez Canal Authority said, adding that the boat had been completely transferred.
In a statement, the Suez Canal Authority said that once the wave reached 2m, rescue workers would aim to completely restore the “ship’s direction to be placed in the middle of the naval route”.
Traffic
Traffic will resume once the ship is moved to a waiting area across a wide canal, an official said. A total of 367 ships were waiting to pass, and officials said it would take three and a half days to repair the congestion.
“It is likely that by this afternoon, the shipping operation will resume,” Suez Canal Authority chairman Osama Rabie told Egyptian television.
“We won’t spend a single moment,” he added.
But a senior security official involved in the rescue operation told Dutch community radio that the operation was not over.
“We have a movement, which is good news. But I’m not saying it’s now a piece of cake,” Peter Berdowski said.
He explained that high-pressure water would be used to try to remove sand and clay from the bottom of the ship’s bow, but if that failed, the containers would have to be raised in operation for some time.
“The bow is still stuck in the muddy clay with a little sand,” he said.
Reducing Cargo From Ever Given
The Ever Given of 200,000 tons collided Tuesday morning between strong winds and a sandstorm that affected visibility. Rescue experts were brought in to help fill the void.
On Sunday, the canal authorities began preparing to remove some 20,000 containers aboard the ship with the aim of reducing cargo.
Alongside the tugs, dredgers have been digging out sand and mud from under the bow of the vessel.
The stern, which had been 4m from the shore, was now 102m clear, the Suez Canal Authority said, adding that the boat had been fully refloated.
Efforts to move the boat resumed at 11:30 local time (09:30 GMT) when the tide was due to rise.
The 200,000-tonne Ever Given ran aground on Tuesday morning amid high winds and a sandstorm that affected visibility. Specialist salvage companies were brought in to help refloat the ship.
On Sunday, canal officials began preparing to remove some of roughly 18,000 containers on board in order to lighten the load. The containers are carrying a huge variety of items and the insured value of the cargo is believed to amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.
Last week, one freight operator in the UK told the BBC they were waiting for 20 boxes containing “coconut milk and syrups, some spare parts for motors… some fork lift trucks [and] some Amazon goods”.
The canal, which separates Africa from the Middle East and Asia, is one of the busiest trade routes in the world with about 12% of total global trade moving through it. It provides the shortest link between Asia and Europe.
An alternative route, around the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa, can take two weeks longer.
According to data from Lloyd’s List, the blockage is holding up an estimated $9.6bn of goods each day – or $400m an hour.
